A need exists for a device to protect the fetal brain against emerging risks of reduced fetal brain blood flow, known as ischemia, and reduced fetal oxygen, known as hypoxia, due to excessive uterine activity (XSUA).
A further need exists for a device to recognize when there is repetitively too little rest between contractions and when contractions occur too often, such as more than seven contractions during a fifteen-minute rest period of labor for a mother.
A need exists for an internet connected device to provide a discreet alarm message to a healthcare worker, such as a nurse or doctor, to a personal device, such as a cellular phone or a smart phone via a network or the internet.
A need exists for a device to automatically protect the fetal brain when potentially brain-injuring excessive uterine activity is detected by stopping a pump that infuses synthetic oxytocin to a mother to increase contractions.
A need exists for a risk mitigating device usable in hospitals that provides a digital record that labor has not been injurious, providing a visual display that reassures providers and expectant parents, which prevents unnecessary lawsuits against hospitals and doctors providing birthing care.
A need exists for a device to protect the fetal brain by providing data analysis and graphs that reveal potentially injurious trends of fetal heart rate and uterine contraction pressure to doctors and nurses during 8 to 15 minute segments of labor and by identifying risk trends that evaluate the combination of cumulative contraction pressure and contraction duration.
A need exists for a device to protect the fetal brain by computing and displaying accurate, continuously updated and easily-recognizable graphics that allow doctors and nurses to diagnose the important features and trends of potentially injurious excessive uterine activity throughout the entire course labor.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended “Development and evaluation of new technologies for intrapartum fetal monitoring to augment EFM interpretation and clinical decision making at the bedside” as well as “Exploration of computer interpretation of EFM as an aid, or even replacement, to visual interpretation” in the Neonatal Encephalopathy and Neurologic Outcome, Second Edition, copyright 2014 as developed under the direction of the Task Force on Neonatal Encephalopathy.
The present embodiments meet these needs.
The present embodiments are detailed below with reference to the listed Figures.